For Trent Green, 2006 is 1999 All Over Again, Which Was 1998 in Reverse

Curly R Question Box: why the hell write a piece about Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green?

Answer: because letting him go was one of the worst Redskins decisions in the pre-Dan Snyder period.

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We miss you Trent. If you get jacked by KC you can come on back.

If I'm Trent Green, I'm saying no way, this can't be happening again. Back on September 10, Cincinnati defensive end Robert Geathers cheapshotted Kansas City quarterback Trent Green with a hit so hard and so emphatically legal (according to the chattering class that is; I for one thought it was a late hit) that it literally knocked Green into the future. Here it is November 8 and we still have not caught up to him. Scientists believe he is starting to rematerialize and will be fully reintegrated by Sunday November 19, when he would be eligible to begin playing with in the present, which is now the future. Herm Edwards has refused to say he will bench backup-starter Damon Huard, who has thrown 11 TDs and 1 INT while going 5-2, when Green rematerializes.

Trent has been here before. In a 1999 preseason game, noted cheapshot artist Rodney Harrison tackled Trent's knee, tearing his left ACL, MCL and meniscus. He missed the entire season and has no stats for that year. All some born-again grocery bagger named Kurt Warner did in Green's stead was lead the team to a victory in Super Bowl 34, averaging over 270 passing yards per game for a team that led the league in scoring, averaging 32 points a game.

Dick Vermiel 'retired' after Super Bowl 34 and handed the team to former Redskins quarterbacks coach Mike Martz, who did not reinstate his healed-up former Redskins quarterback Trent Green as the starter, but rather went with Warner. Green got into 8 games that season, starting 5, when we first learned that Mr. Robopass Warner is brittle. That turned out to be a mistake in the long run because even though Warner was out of his mind in 2001, the Rams did not repeat in the Super Bowl and over the 2002 and 2003 seasons only started seven games for the Rams.

The next season, 2001, Vermeil came back out of retirement again to lead the Kansas City Chiefs. His first priority was to acquire his boy Green, who has been remarkably consistent for the past five seasons. From 2001-2005, Trent started 80 straight games and threw 38 more TD passes than INTs. Marc Bulger is no slouch and a legitimate NFL quarterback, though not as efficient or sturdy for the Rams as Green has been in Kansas City. I bet Ram fans wish they could have a do-over on that one.

Trent was drafted from Indiana by San Diego in the 8th round of the 1993 draft. Washington acquired him before the 1995 season, and he did not play a regular season down until 1997, when he threw a whole one pass. I remember watching him in preseason those three years thinking he looked 'crisp' (don't you love that football word?) and wondering on some level why the hell the Redskins were messing with Heath Shuler (D-NC) and Gus Frerotte, who is amusingly enough now Marc Bulger's backup when Trent had the arm, the accuracy and the poise in the pocket.

In the first game of the 1998 season, Gus was the Redskins' starter, Heath gone two seasons past and at that point like a hazy blackout memory of bad judgement and early morning regret. Gus 'injured' his shoulder in that game, Norv Turner put Trent in, who threw two TD passes and almost brought the team back. I say 'injured' because I remember that game and the aftermath and there's no way Gus could not go. Norv was displeased, benched Gus and promoted Trent to the starting position, nominally for the rest of the season.

This was not the first time Norv refused to give a designated starter more than one game to perform. In 1995, after a disastrous rookie season in 1994, Norv named Heath the starter in the offseason, he went through camp as the starter, then Norv yanked him at halftime of the first game in favor of Gus. This is now known as the Shuler Treatment.

So after giving Gus the Shuler Treatment in game 1 of the 1998 season (Joe Gibbs would later give Patrick Ramsey the Shuler Treatment in the first game of the 2005 season) and naming Trent the starter, the Redskins proceeded to go into the bye week 0-7. In week six against the Eagles, the Redskins managed only 198 total yards of offense, and Norv pulled Trent and put Gus back in. The Redskins lost.

In week seven, a rejuvenated Gus threw for 117 yards and an INT while an aging Randall Cunningham could only manage 259 yards and 2 TDs for the Vikings. The Redskins lost 41-7 and Norv went on a profanity-laced tirade at halftime and after the game, saying the team was full of quitters. Nice mojo going into the bye.

After the bye, Trent was reinstalled as the starter and the Redskins beat the Giants at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. Trent was the starter the rest of the season. All told, the Redskins went 6-3 after the bye for a season record of 6-10. After the season, Trent wanted to stay in Washington, but with Jack Kent Cooke having died and made it almost impossible for his son John to buy the team, Trent was put off by the ownership situation and left town, signing with his hometown Rams.

Washington Post 1998 season recap.